Recollecting Pearl
by Ruan Chun Xian
Summary: Zhao Wei reminisces Huan Zhu Ge Ge with her daughter and husband. Takes place in the year 2027. Written 2007, with Fern.
1. A Mother Daughter Moment

**Part the First: A Mother-Daughter Moment **

_~2027~_

Zhao Wei was revising the script of of a movie she was being invited to direct when her sixteen-year-old daughter, Wei Ning, walked in and sat down on the bed opposite her.

"Mum?"

"Hmmm?" she asked, still looking at the script, frowning at a large monologue that the main character was supposed to give.

"What was your first kiss with Daddy like?" Wei Ning asked, fiddling with a pillow in her lap.

That made Wei Wei look up. She tried to stifle a laugh, albeit not so successfully. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, I just want to know, was it different from kisses with other people?"

Wei Wei smiled. "Certainly it was different, but not necessarily like you're imagining it. Is there something you'd like to tell me, young lady?"

"Well – " Wei Ning said, dragging out the syllable, "not _really_. I just…well, did you _know_ he was the one you'd marry someday?"

"That would depends on what you mean by marry," Wei Wei laughed.

"What do you mean, what do I mean by marry? I mean, marry, like, wedding, the tux and white dress and everything." She gestured to the wedding photo on the wall, taken eighteen years earlier.

"The tux and white dress, no, but I did know then, that I would marry him," Wei Wei said, chuckling at her daughter's confused look.

"_Mummy_! I don't get the joke," Wei Ning pouted.

Wei Wei continued to laugh.

"Was it romantic then?" Wei Ning pressed on.

"Certainly not," her mother answered.

"No?" Wei Ning asked, disappointed.

"It was an onscreen kiss, so I could hardly call it romantic."

"Your first kiss with Daddy was onscreen?"

"Of course," Wei Wei smiled. "We only met filming Huan Zhu Ge Ge, you know that."

"Well, wouldn't that be even _more_ romantic then?"

Wei Wei laughed. "Ning Ning, onscreen kisses only look romantic. In reality, there is little that could be described as romantic about them, especially from the actors' point of view."

"Why not?"

"Simply the fact that one is expected to perform the exact same kiss about a dozen times and every movement of it is scripted. Onscreen kisses can be very mechanical by about the third take, you know, because inevitably there would had been rehearsals before the actual shooting of the scene. And this particular one…"

Wei Wei shook her head and laughed at the memory. Had it really been thirty years since she shot that scene?

"…that particular one didn't even look romantic. My character wasn't even suppose to enjoy it."

"Why not?"

"You should just watch the drama and then you'll know why." She picked up the DVD of the episode in question on the shelf against the wall and handed it to her daughter.

"Mum!" Wei Ning groaned. "It's weird watching your parents in a drama!"

Wei Wei chuckled and put the DVD into the DVD player and turned it on. "To be honest, Ning Ning," she smiled, "it's even weirder to see your twenty-year-old self onscreen thirty years after the drama is made."

"Mum, that was romantic," Wei Ning said with a very girlish sigh after seeing the kiss they were discussing. "I mean, how can you possibly say that wasn't romantic?"

"Maybe because it's the fact that when we performed that, there must had been a few dozen people watching?" Wei Wei chuckled. "That was my first onscreen kiss, you know. We hardly knew each other then, we've only just met a couple of months earlier. It was the first kiss filmed in the whole series and everyone was tittering. Comfortable it was not. The first take, which literally was our first kiss together, was just cringe worthy. I think that must had been one of the later takes when we've done the scene so many times that it's just become a routine."

"Did you like it though?" Wei Ning asked slyly.

Wei Wei laughed. "I wasn't supposed to like it. And back then, I totally focused on the part. I wasn't…thinking of liking it. But your father liked it."

"Oh?" Wei Ning queried cheekily.

"He offered to do another take after Sun Shu Pei, the director, called cut on the last take." Wei Ning giggled. "He made some feeble excuse about another angle or something like that. Lin Xin Ru teased me for days after that scene. And she didn't have a kiss scene in that drama for me to tease her back. I had to wait till we filmed part two for her first kiss scene."

"On average, how many takes do you have to do for a kiss scene?" Wei Ning asked.

"It depends on the number of angles you need. And good chemistry between the actors would help get it done faster."

"What would you have thought if someone told you then that one day you'd marry Daddy?"

"I did know I'd marry him, Ning Ning."

Wei Ning rolled her eyes. "I _meant_, marry him in real life. Not in the drama."

Wei Wei smiled. "I'd had thought that they watched too many dramas. Just because our characters were in love didn't mean that we would fall in love ourselves. It's called acting for a reason. But I suppose your father had different ideas, even then. At the time I already had a boyfriend though, so it couldn't have developed to anything, then, at any rate."

"It obviously did, later," Wei Ning said archly.

"Not till about ten years after we filmed our last drama together though. We didn't see each other a lot after Qing Shen Shen Yu Meng Meng but I suppose before then we had plenty of time on set together."

"Don't you have more screentime with Daddy than any other actor? You were in, what, 4 dramas with him."

"Yes, I suppose," Wei Wei said, chuckling. "Twenty-four and forty-eight episodes for Huan Zhu 1 and 2, then twenty-five for Lao Fang You Xi, another forty-eight for Qing Shen Shen Yu Meng Meng. Even if you don't count Qing Shen Shen Yu Meng Meng, where our characters weren't in love with each other, that was still a lot of time acting as lovers."

"How many onscreen kisses did you have with Daddy in those other three then?"

"Not many. Four I think."

"Four?" Wei Ning asked, astonished. "Nearly a hundred episodes' worth of screentime and you only kissed him _four_ time?"

Wei Wei laughed. "You look devastated, it was hardly only four times. Each kiss took quite a few takes."

"But _still_!" she huffed.

"It was hardly our fault. Blame the script writers."

"What were the other kisses like then?"

"Not much more enjoyable, I afraid," Wei Wei said, still amused at her daughter's indignation at the lack of kisses. "The first kiss in Huan Zhu 2 was enjoyable enough, I suppose, but the one at the wedding scene…we were struggling all the time not to laugh at how it would end. I was absolutely freezing in the kiss in Lao Fang You Xi considering it was supposed to be in the pouring rain. While in real life, a kiss in the rain may be considered romantic…when you're shooting it you end up soaking in the rain for hours on end. Not at _all_ romantic when you're frozen stiff."

"When was your first real kiss with Daddy then? One that wasn't onscreen?"

"Not till years after, when we started courting properly. But why all the sudden questions, and on this particular subject anyway?"

"No reason," Wei Ning shrugged, not quite meeting her mother's eyes.

Wei Wei raised a suspicious eyebrow at her daughter. But her daughter was saved from further interrogation when the very person they've been talking about walked into the room.

"Hi Daddy!" Wei Ning said, standing up. "I've got to meet Jing Jing, I won't be home for dinner. Bye Mum, bye Daddy."

And with that, and a swift kiss on her father's cheek, Wei Ning rushed from the room, leaving Wei Wei look after her in amusement.

"What was that about?" You Peng asked.

Wei Wei looked after their daughter for a moment, then looked up at her husband and smiled. "You don't want to know," she answered, before turning back to her script.


	2. The Pearl Returns

**Part the Second: The Pearl Returns**

"Why won't I want to know? Come on, tell me." You Peng cajoled.

Wei Wei looked up from her script once more and chuckled. "All right, she was just asking me about my first kiss with you and how romantic it was."

You Peng grinned, "Ah. Huan Zhu Ge Ge 1 at the meadow!"

"Yes, the one where you cunningly asked the director for another take."

You Peng put his arms round his wife's shoulders. "Well, hey, I enjoyed it. You've gotta take whatever you can have. Back then, I was already harbouring a pretty huge crush on you."

"Did you also anticipate the teasing I would get for days on end?"

You Peng laughed. "Xin Ru is a character. By the way, there'll be a Huan Zhu reunion next Sunday at Aunty's house. Just a small one."

"I know, I just got a call from Zhou Jie. I can't imagine it's been thirty years since we first met," Wei Wei sighed.

Nodding, her husband reminisced alongside her. "A wonderful thirty years although there were some bumps along the way."

As they sat there, their minds recalled the day when the said incident happened.

* * *

"You Peng! Come on! We haven't got much time!" his assistant called. Zhou Jie and You Peng got up from where they were sitting and made their way to the bottom of the meadow. It was slightly slippery from the morning dew. Wei Wei and Xin Ru were already there chit-chatting. Xin Ru's eyes gleamed as she saw You Peng approaching. The entire cast, except for Wei Wei, knew of You Peng's little crush on Wei Wei and constantly loved taking little jabs at him for it. You Peng thanked the heavens she was blissfully unaware of it.

"Ah, the main man's here. Alright Wei Wei, I'll be at the sides watching."

Wei Wei was understandably nervous. "Xin Ru. I'm afraid! What if I mess it up?"

Xin Ru only shrugged. You Peng sat down beside Wei Wei. "You can't mess it up Wei Wei. It's all scripted! Besides, they'll never do it in one take I'm afraid. And to top it all, Xiao Yan Zi doesn't even enjoy this kiss so you don't have to worry."

Wei Wei sighed even heavier, "But it's like my first onscreen kiss!"

You Peng chuckled, "Well, you've got to start somewhere. It gets mechanical after awhile, you'll see."

That didn't calm Wei Wei down a bit. You Peng took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face him. "Look at me Wei Wei."

She looked timidly up. "Just put yourself in Xiao Yan Zi's shoes and you'll be fine. Trust me. I won't eat you up."

Sun Shu Pei then yelled. "Places everyone! Wei Wei! Sit up! You Peng! Get into place! Camera and lights ready? Alright! Kiss scene. Take One, Action!"

The clapperboard clicked. Wei Wei became Xiao Yan Zi and started to rant. "I've got no complex thought! No education! No this…no that…hmmph!"

You Peng, being Yong Qi, decided to shut her up with a kiss. Wei Wei struggled, as Xiao Yan Zi was supposed to then…"CUT!"

The pair broke apart. Xin Ru was indignant. "What was wrong with that? It was going so well!"

Sun Shu Pei sighed. "It was but Johnny (camera man) moved the camera. It was supposed to be a still shot."

Johnny looked embarrassed. "Sorry! Sorry! Won't happen again! Stupid bug got onto my hand!"

The cast started laughing. Wei Wei looked at You Peng. He asked, "Feel better?"

Showing him a watery smile, "Well, that was the first first onscreen kiss and that's that. I hope it'll get better. I hate having so many butterflies in my stomach! I was so nervous!"

Sun Shu Pei gathered everyone for the second take. "Action!"

"I've got no complex thought! No education! No this…no that…hmmph!" As You Peng moved his head as the script called for, his heart started racing. Just as he was about to enjoy the kiss, Wei Wei pushed him away and yelled, "Now you're bullying me!"

Wei Wei tried to stand up feebly and You Peng hurried after her, trying to help her along. "I'm not bullying you. I'm bullying myself! Please, I beg you, sit down and let me have a look at your leg."

"CUT! Well done!"

Everyone cheered. Wei Wei blushed. Sun Shu Pei went through a few more takes, sending You Peng onto cloud nine. Xin Ru noticed the perpetual pinkness on his cheeks and started teasing him about it.

"Aw! She's gotten into you so fast?"

He grunted, "Shut up."

Zhou Jie laughed, "You guys did well on the second take you know."

Xin Ru nodded. "I think they're going to use the second take on the show. Had enough yet, You Peng?"

He grinned mischieviously, "You know, I think there's still one angle that hasn't been covered yet. I'll go ask Sun Shu Pei about it."

After saying that, he got up, dusted his robes and walked towards the director. Xin Ru and Zhou Jie slapped their foreheads and started laughing. _That was so feeble!_

Sun Shu Pei looked up as You Peng walked towards him. He smiled, "You Peng! Good job on the kissing scene. I know Wei Wei was very nervous but you managed to guide her well."

Swallowing hard, You Peng said, "Thanks. Erm…I did notice that the cameraman did not cover the angle that shoots us in profile. Or did it? I mean, if you didn't, I don't mind doing another take so that we can just get over this whole thing."

Sun Shu Pei started going through his file. "I'm pretty sure we did. Hang on, let me check with Johnny."

Then, Wei Wei came up to You Peng. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was wondering if they did a take shooting us in profile just now. If they didn't, we might have to do it again and then we'll be done!"

Wei Wei chuckled. "A little over enthusiastic, are we?"

You Peng grinned, "Like I said, to get it over with!"

Sun Shu Pei came back. "Thanks for the offer You Peng but they had a shot of that so it's fine. We can carry on after this break."

* * *

Wei Wei and You Peng were both laughing fondly at the memory.

"So what did you tell Ning Ning?" You Peng asked.

"Oh you know, the truth," Wei Wei said lightly, a twinkle in her eyes, "how it was possibly the least romantic kiss you can possible imagine, either as an actress doing her first onscreen kiss or as Xiao Yan Zi getting her first kiss."

You Peng laughed. "It wasn't that bad."

"To be honest, then, it was mortifying for me. I was so relieved when it was over."

"Oh, that's nice to know," You Peng faked a hurt tone. "There I was, languishing in love with you, and you couldn't wait to stop kissing me."

"Well, it's not my fault you couldn't distinguish between screen and life," Wei Wei teased.

You Peng sighed theatrically before grinning at her.

"So what's the script?" You Peng asked.

"A movie remake of Huan Zhu Ge Ge 1 that I'm being asked to direct," Wei Wei said simply.

"You're kidding," You Peng said, peering at the cover.

"I'm not," Wei Wei laughed. "And you won't believe who wrote and sent me this script."

"Who?"

"Zhou Jie! Apparently it started as a dare between Xin Ru and him or something, and he started writing a script for a Huan Zhu movie. Then by some bizarre turn of event, he actually became serious about it and said he'd produce it if I agree to direct it. That's why he called earlier, actually, to ask if I had a look through it yet. I only managed the time to opened the email that he sent the script in this morning."

You Peng laughed, "Does Aunty know about this?"

"Apparently not. He told me if I can seriously consider directing it then he'd start seriously putting together plans to produce it with me and we can talk to Aunty about it."

"This is just bizarre. How did he manage to fit the whole plot into a movie?" You Peng wondered.

"Well a lot of things are taken out or shortened. Characters spent too much time waxing philosophical in long speeches in the dramas. It looks pretty good so far. You know, I'd never imagined Zhou Jie to be able to write this kind of script."

"Are you taking it then?" You Peng asked.

Wei Wei pondered for a moment. "It's tempting."

"Well, this will be interesting," You Peng said, smiling.

"Xin Ru called earlier as well, right after Zhou Jie actually, to tell me about the reunion at Aunty's house. When I told her I was reading Zhou Jie's script, she said she wanted the part of the Empress if I'm taking it. I'm not sure whether she was serious or not."

You Peng said in amusement, "That would be ironic."

Wei Wei looked up at him in amusement. "Might you consider the part of Huang Ah Ma then? For old times' sake? It'd be a natural promotion, you know, from Wu A Ge to the Emperor. It'd really be reunion then in this movie."

"Is that a formal casting?" You Peng teased.

Wei Wei just smiled and flicked a few pages of the script. Then she paused at a page and read it, before showing it to her husband.

"He didn't change Xiao Yan Zi and Yong Qi's kiss scene at all," she chuckled.

"He is so definitely having a laugh at us," You Peng shook his head after reading the scene.

"So what do you think?"

"What do _I_ think?" You Peng asked. "Isn't it what you think that matters?"

"I mean, do you I think I should do it?"

"I'd take it, if I were you, even if it's just for fun. After all, high points of all our careers started with Huan Zhu. It'd be nice to do a tribute to it, years later. I don't think Aunty will have too much trouble with it."

"Do you think it will be received well by audience though? You know, with changes in the script, cast changes, and so forth?"

"Are you thinking of Huan Zhu 3?"

Wei Wei hesitated. "Somewhat."

"It's different, isn't it? This is a remake, not a sequel. People expect remakes to be different and would be more tolerating with changes in remakes than in sequels. Besides, it's an entirely different generation who will be watching this version, and they won't have the preconceived notions of the original version in their head."

"I suppose you have a point. If I take it, will you take the part I just offered then?"

"Qian Long? Well it will be a challenge, especially competing with Uncle Tie Lin's portrayal of him. But I think it will be interesting. As you said, natural promotion, right?"

"So you'll take it?"

You Peng smiled. "If you're serious about this movie and are seriously offering me the part, then why not?"

"Great! I'll tell Zhou Jie on Sunday then."

The End

* * *

This was written in 2007, the 10th anniversary of HZGG. Back then, the cast of HZGG (Zhao Wei, Lin Xin Ru, Su You Peng and Zhou Jie) did alledgedly have a reunion where they jokingly talked about doing a film together later (not necessarily HZGG The Movie), where Zhao Wei would direct because that was the year that she started her Masters degree in Film Directing. So this story was born, a completely random idea in my head that grew into an extra chapter later, after an MSN conversation with a fellow HZGG fan, Fern. In fact, the first half of the second chapter is entirely her writing.

When we wrote this, no, we did not know that Zhao Wei would really have a daughter (not…of course…with, you know) nor that there would one day really be a HZGG remake. Maybe we're psychic. Maybe someone close to Qiong Yao actually read this at some point and thought, "Hey that's a good idea!" Or something. I guess, moral of the story: be careful what you wish for? :P


End file.
